Abstract: This study examines trends in intergenerational class mobility in China by analyzing six comparable, nationally representative surveys between 1996 and 2012. Defying a simplistic, unidirectional account, the authors report two countervailing trends in social mobility in postrevolution China. On the one hand, the authors find a decline in social fluidity following China’s transition from state socialism to a market economy, as the link between origin and destination in vertical social status has significantly strengthened. On the other hand, horizontal mobility between the agricultural and nonagricultural sectors has increased substantially during recent decades. To put these trends in a global context, the authors compare China’s experience with those in 11 advanced industrial countries. The authors find that despite its recent decline, social fluidity in China is still high by international standards. Yet, the direction of vertical social mobility trends in China stands in contrast with that in mature capitalist countries, in which the class structure has either stayed stable or become more open over time.

摘要：本研究通过分析1996年至2012年间六项可比较的、具有全国代表性的调查数据，探讨了中国代际阶层流动的趋势。不同于简单、单向的描述，笔者报道了改革后中国社会流动的两种对抗趋势。一方面，笔者发现，随着中国从国家社会主义向市场经济转型，社会流动性降低，垂直社会地位中的起点和终点之间的联系显著加强；另一方面，近几十年来，农业和非农业部门之间的横向流动大幅增加。为了将这些趋势放在全球范围参照，笔者将中国与11个发达工业国家进行了比较。研究发现，尽管近年来有所下降，但与国际水平相比，中国的社会流动程度仍然很高。然而，中国的垂直社会流动的趋势与成熟资本主义国家形成了鲜明对比，后者的阶级结构或保持稳定，或随时间推移而变得更加开放。